Bangladesh’s forex reserves slip below $13 billion

Special Correspondent: Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves have faced a setback, slipping below the $13 billion mark after recent settlements of import obligations with the Asian Clearing Union (ACU).
Sources at the Bangladesh Bank reveal that while the total reserves tally up to $23.77 billion, the usable amount now hovers just shy of $13 billion. When calculated according to the IMF’s BPM6 method, the figure stands at $18.32 billion.
A substantial chunk of reserves, totaling $1.63 billion, was recently disbursed to clear import bills for March and April through the ACU.
Initially, under a $4.7 billion loan scheme, the IMF set a net reserve requirement of $20.11 billion until June 30. This target was later revised down to $14.75 billion, yet Bangladesh fell short of meeting either threshold.
Presently, Bangladesh is expending approximately $5 billion monthly to settle import liabilities.
Mezbaul Haque, spokesperson for the Bangladesh Bank, attributes the decline in reserves to the settlement of import bills over the past two months.
Looking ahead, the spokesperson anticipates the disbursement of an IMF loan installment next month and projects expatriate earnings exceeding $2 billion for the current month. Such inflows are expected to alleviate pressure on reserves.
During the first 12 days of the month, Bangladesh received around $900 million in expatriate income. With the current exchange rate set at Tk 117 per dollar, authorities are optimistic about a potential upswing in both expatriate earnings and export revenues.